SANTA CRUZ, CA. just as i begin typing this i spill tea all over myself. i’m in a coffee shop so i’m embarrassed looking like i peed in my pants. oh, well. i shot more footage today of the bike church building their new home. they will be renting what was once a tire shop and an illegal tattoo parlor on the corner of pacific & spruce. much more space, including offices for people power and ped ex santa cruz. it is a successful story of a bike collective finding a new home in which to grow. they are rebuilding the space themselves, framing walls, hanging drywall, building doors and partitions. pretty amazing. so many of the other bike collective’s i’ve visited have outgrown their space or face future gentrification, i.e. the derailer and the bike kitchen, respectively. the derailer currently runs out of the garage in a denver house rented by a handful of young, enthusiastic people who also coordinate a local food not bombs from their kitchen.

the new, unopened bike church is filled daily with volunteers to help renovate the space. they are still raising money to pay for the project, but money is secondary to getting the space open in time for the new year according to josh muir, one of the founders of the bike church. the old repair shop has already been closed to begin moving equipment and tools. tomorrow i have an interview with josh and quentin, two of the founders. and then wednesday i fly to north carolina for the holidays. i haven’t even stopped to realize it’s that time of year. and the fact that i’m walking around in a t-shirt during the day… it’s going to be hard to go back to chicago.